1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable mounting mechanism, and more particularly, to a cable mounting mechanism applied to a vehicle.
2) Description of the Related Art
In a conventionally-known technology regarding vehicles, an outside handle, an inside handle, and a sill knob are connected via cables to a door-lock device or the like disposed inside a door so as to transfer an operation of the outside handle, for example, to the door-lock device.
In a first cable mounting mechanism for mounting a cable on the door-lock device or the like, a perimeter groove is formed around the perimeter of a cable, while a bracket of the door-lock device or the like is formed with an opening having an opening end slightly narrower than the outer diameter of the perimeter groove of the cable and a bottom end having an inner diameter approximately equal to the outer diameter of the perimeter groove. When the cable is pushed through the opening end to engage its perimeter groove with the opening of the bracket, both sidewalls of the perimeter groove of the cable pinch the perimeter of the opening of the bracket. This first cable mounting mechanism is simple, and is achieved at low cost.
In a second cable mounting mechanism, the bracket is formed with a U-shaped opening having a bottom whose diameter is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the perimeter groove of the cable. On the other hand, a clip having an elastic bending portion for bonding a side surface of the bracket and the inner wall of the perimeter groove of the cable by pressure is inserted in the bracket, and then the perimeter groove of the cable is fitted in the opening of the bracket (see Japanese Utility-Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2-96006).
However, in the first cable mounting mechanism, when the cable is repeatedly inserted and removed due to failures in the door-lock device or the like, the outer shape of the perimeter groove of the cable is scratched, thereby making the cable prone to fall off from the opening of the bracket. Therefore, after the cable is removed, another new cable is required to be inserted.
In the second cable mounting mechanism, even if the cable is repeatedly inserted and removed, the outer shape of the perimeter groove of the cable is not scratched. Therefore, even after the cable is removed, another new cable is not required. However, the elastic bending portion of the clip will lose a desired crimping force, thereby leading to a drop-off of the cable. Therefore, a new clip is required to be inserted.